The Controller General of the Nigeria Prison Service (NPS), Ja’afaru Ahmed has announced that recruitment of over 6,000 qualified Nigerians into the Service will soon commence.
This was even as he said that over 11,000 officers have been promoted as part of efforts to boost the morale of the rank and file.
Ahmed who spoke when he received an Award of Icon of Crisis Management in Nigeria from the Centre of Crisis Communication, said that the Federal Government has included in the next year Budget, the plan to recruit 6,000 officers and men to boost the capacity of the service in achieving its statutory mandates.
“If the Budget is approved, he said, it would further enhance several deliverables both on the part of inmates and the staff in general.”
He said, at the award ceremony which was held along with a workshop on Information Management for Command Officers and Public Relations Officers of the Nigerian Prisons Service holding in Kadun, that a list of qualified officers for the next promotion exercise has been compiled and is coming out soon.
According to him, the goal of the Nigerian Prisons Service is to have a system that provides conditions of imprisonment above the minimum standard prescribed by the United Nations.
He said that with the active support of the Minister of Interior, retired Lt. General Abdulrahman Dambazau, the Federal Government approved an upward review of budget allocation to address the myriads of challenges bedeviling the Service.
According to him, this singular approach coupled with prudent management of resources have changed the face of the Nigerian Prisons Service to the admiration of all and sundry.
He commended the genuine effort of some Command Officers and their Public Relations Officers(PROs) that have given copious press coverage of the progress being made to communicate the Federal government’s practical effort to improve the conditions of prisons in Nigeria.
“It is relevant to state that within 2 years of my stewardship as the Controller-General of Prisons, we have taken active steps to provide operational vehicles in order to improve access to justice for those awaiting trial; significantly improved on the quality of prison cells by renovating old ones and constructing new ones where space allows; embarked on office and barrack renovations; procured large quantity of assorted drugs, the type the Service has not had in a long while, and distributed them to prison formations and also purchased sundry items to make life better for the inmates. The ailing farm centres are also being revived through procurement of machineries to improve inmates’ training and increase productivity.”[myad]
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